The invention relates generally to cane harvesters and pilers, and more particularly to a self-propelled, two-row cane harvester with a four row piler as described in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 827,524 filed Aug. 25, 1977, and incorporated by reference herein.
The prior art comprises the following U.S. patents:
(a) B. C. Thomson, No. 3,002,330, which teaches a single row cane harvester, having a swiveling front wheel, mounted on the front of a crawler type tractor, and having a single articulation piler for piling cut cane in alignment with the rows and clear of the tractor tracks;
(b) H. J. Chauffe, No. 3,448,564, which teaches a single row, tricycle cane harvester, having a steerable front wheel and a double articulation piler in which the articulations are for moving the piler from working to traveling positions, and that piles in single longitudinal rows only;
(c) V. P. Broussard, No. 3,481,121, which teaches a tricycle cane harvester, having a steerable rear wheel smaller than the fixed front wheels, and a double articulation piler arranged in a force parallelogram to position automatically cut cane transverse the rows and pile six rows of cut cane across one row, and
(d) John D. Segredo, No. 3,654,752, which teaches a multiple row forage harvester having no piler and for use with a trailer.
The invention, while disclosing some part of the advantages of the prior art, such as the single articulation of the piler and the rear track steering of Thomson, the multiple row piling and the single rear wheel steering of Broussard, and the multiple row harvester of Segredo, includes advantages unknown to the prior art and unobvious new combinations with, and of, the prior art, such as multiple transverse row piling with single articulation pilers, differentially steerable rear wheels for continuous stable suspension on uneven ground of in a four-wheel harvester, and a unitary speed control for simultaneous controlling chains and ground speeds, said speeds being independently settable in relative speed ranges.